whatever happened to Drew Hunter?

It was hand timed, actually.

Why are you always so negative? Have you ever said anything positive about any runner?

Nico is obviously already much better than Drew ever was. See their 5000m and 3000m PBs

As soon as Nico joins a fast 1500m/ mile he will also surpass Drew with a good margin.

Seen through neutral glasses from the other side of the pond: Nico is a likely member of the US olympic 5000m team this year (together with Parker Valby in the women´s team).

Drew is a pretty big guy, not your typical 130lb distance runner like Nico. Maybe all the pounding has taken its toll.

Nobody going to mention that he is coached by mommy and daddy?

Just like that fraud Seb Coe

I'll be interested to see what he does in the 10. He showed some signs of life last spring and has been healthy for a while now (and increased his volume).

I know some people are higher responders to altitude, is it possible he's the opposite? Someone smarter than me can jump in if there's actual science behind it, but it seems like he does get injured or sick quite often. Could the altitude be messing with his recovery? Maybe he was made for sea-level.

Man when people are saying Drew Hunter is old and washed up, then you see he has a daughter... holy smokes I'm feeling old.

I guess I'm old now wtf.

He is in Longmont Colorado, a bit below 5000' isn't really elevation.

Hill ran 7:30 and a world medal (indoors but still). Hard to really make an argument for Drew against that.

There’s something to be said for a guy who consistently makes USATF championship finals when healthy. He’s not the best in the US, but he’s up there competing and it’s hard to feel bad about that outcome when you look at how many of his peers from “his era” turned out (Maton, Slagowski, Rocha, Tomagno). Hell, if he hadn’t broken his foot in the last lap of the 2019 USATF 5k where he finished 5th he would’ve been at the world championships in Doha that fall. I’ll be very interested to see how he fairs at 5/10k. Always felt like that was his future, even as he was comfortable being a 1500m guy for many years. Hopefully he can start to push the envelope a little more now in training to reach that next level at the longer distances.

Yeah but in this case mommy and daddy not the same as Seb's.. Right? Do you understand that?

Is too. Moderate altitude but it's altitude and there is an effect, both with training at elevation--and for some if you do it right and you respond to altitude--and at sea level. To deny this is to stick your head in the sand.

Also worth noting is that Drew and the tinmen spend some time in Nederland, which is at about 8700'.

How do you know the problem isn’t that hunter isn’t seb? Do you understand that?

I have no clue on where to place the blame for the steady stream of injuries. But if you look back to when Tubman was bragging about drew being a slow dude (51s?) winning off CV strength, that suggests the mile future might be limited. But he also always had a jerky form. You can get away with all sorts of arm flailing and head rolling but I can’t think of a sub 3:50 guy whose lower body isn’t really smooth.

Which one are you referring to?

Drew was really really well coached for a high school athlete. 99% of High schoolers don’t train like this, plus he has huge talent.

In my opinion he never increased his training enough, that being said he’s still been injured a lot. Had he gone pro with Jerry, Alberto, etc I don’t think he would have lasted health wise.

I do think college or a different pro team would have been eye opening to him. Seeing how hard those guys train and what is required off the track is needed for any young runner. He instead was the leader of his own team at 18-19. It’s hard to know what the limit is when you have nothing to compare it to.

Training and professionalism

This is something I've started to question recently. Based on what we know about his training, it's mileage with longer repeats, tempos, long runs, some speed work as necessary. Are 99% of high schoolers really not training that hard? Surely a good number of runners with competent coaches are at least as technical in their training approach. Tinman himself has admitted that he didn't reinvent the wheel with his methodology.

I think Drew is a phenomenal talent who has always had an eye on the future- which is great when you're a high school athlete with that much clear potential, but there's less of a point to operating like that when you're 26 and entering the hypothetical prime years of your career. This year and the next Olympic cycle are what Drew has "keeping an eye on" for the last 10 years. When is the time to go chips all in, if not these next four years?

Much has been written about his cohorts who have made greater strides and surpassed him in the time that has passed since they were in high school. I still think he has the potential to be one of those guys on the world/Olympic stage. But he has to start training like he's hungry and needs to eat, instead of training like he's the most talented runner in the country.

my biggest gripe (not sure if that's the right word) with Drew is that he's a 5k guy masquerading as a miler. He was 5th at USAs in 2019 making the world team while breaking his foot. The field wasn't as deep as it is now but he only lost to Lopez, Chelimo, Woody and Hassan Mead. Chelimo and Mead made the final at worlds (7th & 11th), Lopez was 7th in the 10k in 27:04 and Woody time trialed 12:58.

Since then he's largely been injured, sick or underwhelming when focusing on the 5k so he's focused on the 1500/mile. Maybe the 2019 result was a flash in the pan but to me it says he should recommit to the 5/10. I think the double threshold stuff he's doing now will help with his durability as well

I want what you're smoking. Unless he pulls a Kincaid (whose entire career is suspect considering he never accomplished anything before becoming an Olympian) and drops 30 seconds in a season in the 5k, Hunter won't finish higher than 10th. Hunter's training be damned, he does not know how to race. He has consistently choked in big races for the last 4-5 years. This trend will not be bucked in an Olympic year--only worsened.